Parkland peer navigator shares message of hope after decades of addiction
‘I thought I was controlling it, but it was controlling me’
For Wayne Sparks, International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31 is more than just a date on the calendar. After decades of cocaine addiction, repeated relapses and painful losses, he’s found a new sense of purpose by helping others navigate their own paths to recovery as a Peer Recovery Navigator in Parkland Health’s Paths to Recovery Clinic.
At 62, Sparks uses his own experiences with addiction to help people with substance use disorders connect with the appropriate treatment programs, behavioral health resources and support services, including inpatient rehabilitation and 12-step programs.
“All of us are recovering from some sort of addiction, whether it be alcohol or drugs. We have the lived experience to relate and connect with the addict who is still suffering and still going through their disease,” he said. “This is the most fulfilling job I’ve had in my life because I get to help others come out of that muddy water.”
Sparks’ battle with addiction began more than four decades ago. He first drank alcohol as a teenager but began using cocaine around 20 years old. It began as recreational use but quickly escalated into what he described as an “unmanageable addiction” that led to job loss, strained relationships with family members, financial instability and even incarceration.
Sparks remembers a pivotal moment in 2017 when he lost his job at a grocery store and spent the last of his money on one more fix. Left alone in a bedbug-infested apartment, he reached a breaking point and begged his daughter to take him to treatment once more.
“I would drive to a drug dealer’s house, telling myself I wasn’t going to go in. I’d pull into the parking lot and tell myself I wasn’t getting out of the car, but I did. That is the disease of addiction in a nutshell,” he said. “I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I thought I was controlling it, but it was controlling me.”
Recovery did not happen overnight.
Sparks made additional attempts at treatment but continued to relapse. It wasn’t until July 13, 2020, that he realized he would not be able to stay sober if his sole motivation was to satisfy his probation requirements or win back family members he had hurt. To get well, he had to choose recovery for himself.
That realization has shaped the way Sparks approaches his work today.
“What motivates me is if I can reach one person, then maybe that person can reach one person once they get it,” he said. “That’s my motivation: not only to stay clean for myself, but to help others.”
As a Peer Recovery Navigator, Sparks is one of several members of the multidisciplinary team in the Paths to Recovery Clinic.
Parkland’s outpatient addiction services clinic offers a holistic approach to treating substance use disorders, rather than treating it as an isolated issue. It aims to meet patients where they are. The clinic connects patients with peer navigators, nurses, social workers, therapists, pharmacists, medical providers and more.
Olabisi Adams, Practice Operations Manager for Addiction Services, explained that the program was created to close the gap for patients leaving jail who are on medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Without follow-up support, many faced barriers to care and a higher risk of overdose.
“People are not just their diagnosis. They are people who are trying to survive life,” she said. “And in order to help, our role is to connect those pieces for them and offer resources that will support them.”
Today, Sparks identifies as “an addict in remission” and has six years of sobriety. He emphasizes that recovery is ongoing and is lived “one day at a time.”
For him, International Overdose Awareness Day is a reminder of the people lost to addiction but also of those who are still fighting the battle.
“Parkland is in the fight, and we’re helping every single addict that we can. We’re not turning anyone away,” he said. “We are fighting, and we are not going to give up.”
For information about services available at Parkland, visit www.parklandhealth.org.
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